Father of Courage
by SaltySaph
Summary: When Ganon returns early, Link has the choice of either murdering the woman who would be the Mother of the King of Evil, or hiding her and helping her raise Hyrule's most formidable enemy.
1. Chapter 1

A young boy, now well accustomed to wielding a sword forged for a grown man, let it drop. Its bloodied tip scraped along the stone floor. Gravity pulled at the strips of flesh and ooze that grappled the blade to little avail. The boy stood panting. His muscles burned, his lungs heaved, and his eyes were blurry with water. Terror and shock shook where he thought relief and victory would be. With the fight over, his knees buckled and his arms rattled.

"Link!" The young miss, just a year or two older than he, tore her delicate threading in her dress as she sprinted toward him. "Thank the Goddesses, you're alright! Link you did it! It's over-" she grappled him in her arms and she held him up so he did not fall "-it's finally over."

The triforce on Gannondorf's hand pulsed with fading strength. As his heartbeat bled out, the light of his power went with it. It took longer, or felt longer, than either of the two would have liked. Finally the power of triforce dulled. The mark on his hand looked no more bright than a scar on his bronzed skin. The two kids stood there, not able to look at the corpse yet not able to look away. The castle guards flooded the stairs, now freed from Evil's spell, and with them they brought the chorus of celebration that the two needed.

The young woman, wearing more regal layers than she would like but significantly less than her mother would insist on, figdited in her seat. She doodled around her notes because she was worried. Her ear was turned to her tutor. He taught with a gentle voice and a thrill for knowledge. It made him easy to listen to and the lessons more prone to stick. As he covered the reign of her great, great, great grandfather and the laws that were passed in those days that led to laws in place now- Zelda kept her eyes on her classmate. Link was no longer allowed to sit near windows, but that did not stop him from staring out into space. She looked at his paper. At least there were _some_ notes this time. She glanced at her tutor, mid tangent, and found it a good time to copy the notes she had made so far.

"He will not learn if you keep learning for him, your highness." The tutor interjected, and then continued his tangent about laws on how the outer gates are to be run. Realizing his wisdom had not stopped Zelda in her efforts, he sighed. "Princess Zelda."

"The law was passed in 608, not because of what was happening without but the brewing mistrust within." Zelda recited. Then she looked up. She smiled with reassurance. "I'm listening."

"You are always listening." His face fell sweetly. "You do well in a classroom, and though you are only trying to help, he must learn for himself. Do you think you would learn archery as well if he pulled the bowstring for you?"

"Well, sometimes he demonstrates better because he knows what I need to see to understand it." Zelda defended.

Link took his eyes off the air and smiled at her. Gratitude. "Sorry, professor. In her defense, her handwriting is a lot easier for me to read when I study."

"See?" Zelda crossed her leg over her knee with pride. "We're a good team. We've even starting sparring as a team in the courtyard classes. We have minimal openings."

"She almost doesn't step on my feet anymore." Link smirked. Zelda balled up paper and threw it at him. He caught it, as he always did, and threw it back. She glared at him and he went back to staring into space.

"Yes, yes." The tutor waved his chalk about. "Two pieces of the same triforce- always keen to remind me. If you two could, somehow, become the same person I have no doubts that there would be no greater warrior, scholar or goof-off-er in all the realm. Thankfully for anyone who has to teach you, you're not. Which means, _Link, I know you are still listening_, that you too have to pay attention."

Link had learned not to roll his eyes. This was firmly disciplined out of him as bad manners, but the temptation was strong. Instead he blinked, straightened up in his chair, and stared at the board. He squinted. After reading five lines of history, not about combat or exploration, he blinked feverishly to get himself to stay awake.

"You two are the living embodiment of history repeating itself." The tutor's usual jovial tone sunk into a somber warning. The two students stiffened. "There have been many Zeldas and many Links before you, and few were so fortunate to live a peaceful life in a Hyrule restored. We have you both to thank, but this is not an excuse to have no ambition. You two have the greatest opportunity to do wonderful, lasting acts for Hyrule and all of its people. The future bearers of the triforce can be granted a much easier, stronger life for the work you do _today_."

Link slouched in his chair. He picked up his pen, tapped it against the paper, massaged his hand, and overall avoided taking actual notes. Zelda handed him her copy. He copied her words onto his page, including the doodles. He found they made his paper happier and easier to stare at.

"Heh," the guard couldn't hide the smile under his helmet. "It almost feels wrong to have you in a rookie uniform, Sir Link."

"I worked hard to earn it, sir." Link winked. He adjusted himself in the uniform, which hadn't been tailored yet. He missed his pajamas. "So, where to? Hyrule Field to slay some dreaded, accursed Keese? Some maleficent Chuchus of the realm?"

"Patrol duty." The Sargent said flatly. "We are going to each guard tower, in turn, around the lower quarter of the city. We will log the time and the guards positioned at each tower we go to on this log sheet, which they will then sign to affirm that we met them at that location at that time. They will also put us in their log sheet at each tower. If we are the last item on that log sheet, then we will collect the sheet and bring it to the Central Watch for review."

Link stared at him blankly. The officer handed him the log sheet, cleanly attached to a board with a quill. The officer tapped a clip on his belt, filled with not rupees or deku nuts, but nearly hanging vials of ink. The vials were stopped for the top third of their size with a black sponge, for dabbing the quill against. Three of the four vials had caps on, and the other had it's cap tied onto the side, but hung free. Link blinked.

"Don't worry, once your training for patrol is complete in a fortnight, you'll get your own quill holster." The Sargent winked back at Link. "Now quick, name all of the watch towers of the Lower Quarter in positional order from the Central Square South to Central Square North."

"Southern Central."

They walked up to the tower through the marketplace. Many heads turned as they squinted at the trainee dogging the decorated officer. Those with better eyesight stifled a giggle. He awkwardly saluted those with knowing glances. There was a general approval of his learning the proper Watch trade. Shopkeepers gestured about their wares more freely, those with purses of rupees relaxed. It wasn't a reaction Link was expecting. _I make people feel safe._ He allowed himself to smile. _I make them safe._

Guards at the tower's doorway stood and saluted them as they approached. The Sargent and his hero trainee saluted back. Link made the gesture with a bit more confidence this time. Their uniforms were neat, crisp, ironed and some of the guards were decorated. They beamed at those who passed them by into the market. A kid sat inside, calmed from being accidentally separated, waiting for his parents to meet him.

"Well, well," the Post-Guard nodded in Link's direction. "Soon a full-fledged pacer, huh?"

"He's got a good resume for covering ground." The three shared a genuine laugh. "Show him where you keep your log sheets."

They stepped inside and the Sargent noted the condition of the tower, the formality of their uniforms, and those who were on duty. They signed it. The guards logged that the 'pacers' had arrived and made their appraisal. They were still still on the first half of their log sheet. However, the guard pulled two completed sheets from behind the unfinished paged and turned them in.

"It's been a busy day. The Mask Salesman is in town. Folks are going nuts."

"Well, better a busy report than a bad report. Well, Link. What's the next tower?"

"Bombchu Shop."

The guards were far more relaxed than the ones in Southern Central. One was reprimanded for not having his shirt tucked in, but it didn't go into the report. They turned in their sheet as they added in the last lines. Link tucked it into the board under the sheets from Southern Central.

"I'm tellin' ya, Link." A guard folded his arms with pride. "This is the best post. If you ever get stuck in a tower, pray to the Goddesses above it's this one."

Link folded his arms with suspicion.

"One reason; two parts. First, almost nothing happens here. Most shifts are a breeze. When something finally _does_ go off? It has to do with the Bombchu shop and that's when things get exciting. Ain't nothin' better."

"Don't fill his head with laziness, Hanu." The Sargent frowned deeply. "Next tower, Sir Link."

"Rainring and Korok St."

"Rainring _Avenue_ and Korok St." The Sargent corrected him. "So long as you are doing records, you must work with accuracy, cleanliness and precision. Shortcuts are fine for personal notes, but when doing logs you need to be clear."

"There's only one Rainring." Link pointed out. "Does it matter how wide it is?"

"Yes." The Sargent snapped. "It encourages shorthand and laziness. Laziness may start simply with leaving out full names of streets, but soon enough it bleeds out into other parts of your records. Tell me, Link. Does the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon matter when baking a cake?"

He relinquished the battle. "Yessir."

The officer had half a mind to complete his point, but as they approached the tower he thought it best to let it go. There was a bigger fish to fry. The guard was not standing in the doorway. Instead, the light spilled out into the street. The Sargent nodded to Link, and the trainee watched him write it down as a strike. However, he didn't close the point.

"You think there's a good reason not to give him a full strike?" Link spoke softly.

"He deserves the opportunity to explain himself." The Sargent sighed. "He is a citizen."

Link nodded. He briefly remembered a long, long section of Zelda's notes about citizen rights. She had added extra doodles to demonstrate some more important points. It was a good system. Link followed in the Sargent's footsteps up to the tower.

Within was mild panic. A disgruntled guard sat in a chair in the middle of the small room. His head rested in a hot cloth in his palm. His teeth were clenched together. Red was seeping through the water of the cloth. The Sargent moved to shove the log sheet at Link, but Link already had his hands occupied with a bottle. He pulled the cork and passed the milk to the guard. Grateful, the guard threw the milk back. The Sargent's shoulders relaxed.

"What happened?" the Sargent pressed.

Another guard came down from the steps to the top of the tower. In his hands he held a first aid kit, extra log sheets from upstairs, and fresh cloth. He gently nudged his coworker's head out of the cloth, cleaned up the blood off his face, tended to the wound and put the new cloth in his hand. "Panic assault."

The guard focused on cleaning up the mess, only taking the time to gesture into the holding cell of the tower. It was a pit in the floor with a grated-gate over the top. In the stone pit sat a gerudo woman. She was getting on in age and she wore all of her stress on her face. The Sargent snarled under his breath. Link wasn't sure how to feel.

"Panic Assault?" The Sargent's tone stressed his tension. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"She was running in the street." The nurturing guard explained. He took the bloody cloth to the water basin to wash it. "Running from someone we suspect. Anyway, Jann grabbed her to bring her into the tower for questioning and she raised her hand in self-defense. I think she was afraid we had other intentions."

"Alright. I'll send a retrieval team out to the tower." the Sargent sighed. "Can you hold her for an hour until they arrive to take her in?"

"Honestly, sir, I don't think that's necessary." The officer finally looked up at them. He was young. "Once she realized she hit a Watchman she dropped to the ground and balled up to defend herself. I think after some time in the cell I can let her go. Just give her time to calm down, you know?"

"I understand." The Sargent straightened his shoulders. "Which is why we need to take her in and get a formal report. I take it she hasn't said anything since the incident?"

"No. I'm not sure she speaks Hylian."

"All the more reason to take her in. If she needs help, then we need a formal report to work with."

"With all due respect sir, I'm afraid that will make her situation worse."

"Fear is rational until we act on it alone."

The Sargent and the officer sat down at the table to make reports. It was going to be a long one, and both officers had their quill-holsters at the ready. They discussed wording, consistency, accuracy. Link found himself sitting beside the wounded guard. It bothered him, since he couldn't sit still looking at the sloppy job the other guard had pulled together. Link undid the bandages and took to cleaning the wound.

"Hey, hero." The wounded guard groaned. "Tell me the truth, is it bad?"

"No."

"...Yeah, alright. I bet you've bandaged up a lot worse, huh?"

Link paused. He finished up the bandages. The guard's uncovered eye drifted to Link's hand. Link sat back down. "I never bothered to bandage up the bad ones."

The two left the conversation at that.

Link found Zelda curled up with a newspaper in the study. She sipped at tea by firelight. The fireplace roared dangerously behind the cast-iron guarding. He knocked on the door frame for permission to enter into her reading trance. She glanced up.

"How are you already back into your sleepwear?" she laughed. She folded up the paper and sat up in the armchair so that her dress did not drape in every direction. "You were on patrol not an hour ago."

"I like comfort." he said. When her facial expression didn't change, he shrugged. "What?"

She frowned. "You're focusing on the dark years again?"

He couldn't shrug off her question. He collapsed into the armchair opposite her. Perhaps avoidance would get him out of addressing the ugly cloud of thoughts. "I dunno how, but even after crossing all this ground in the palace all these years did not prepare me for how sore my feet are from patrol. I've grown _domestic,_ Zelda. This is your fault."

"I'm terribly sorry." She smirked. "I'll tell father to let you hunt your own dinner for the night."

His glare snapped up. "Har har."

Her expression softened and he found himself trapped, his eyes meeting hers. Her triforce shone softly. She stared right through his defenses and into his heart. He stared back. Her eyes didn't read with all of her secrets. He blinked her off. It was too late to keep her from prying but it at least got her to stop.

"I'm sorry." She meant it.

"There's nothing-"

"I wish that we got to grow up first, too."

Nothing else needed to be said after that, so instead she read to him the gossip from the paper. Link fell asleep in the chair nigh immediately after. He woke hours later with the fire snuffed out, her blanket thrown over him, and a servant of the palace encouraging him to find a proper bed to sleep in.

_Hyrule Castle stood on a hill where the grass was green and the stones sang the wisdom of the sages. One by one, the stones changed their song. The major key escalated to its minor, and their words turned to warning. Their wisdom turned to the reciting of legend, of turning seasons. They sang that spring comes for us all when the rest ends. The grass curled into weeds, grew tall stalks and lashed out with teeth of thorns._

_No matter how many of them Link slew, their teeth of thorns would stay with him. He could feel the thorns following him, singing songs of spring in ominous tones. They sang that spring for one is autumn for another. Summer for one is Winter for another. Thorns peeled into more stalks for him to slay. They sang of beginnings, endings and omens. They sang that feast for one is famine for another._

_Link drew his sword._

_Link drew his sword._

_Link drew his sword._

_Every time he did so his hand was different. Every time he did so, the sword aged. His shield became more battered with every stroke of his own blade against the enemy. The sword was heavier than ever. The sword fit perfectly in his grown hand. The blade was dull, but the glow on his hand was brighter than ever. The glow reduced to one corner, the corner of courage, and then ticked to wisdom. Then it ticked to power. Courage, Wisdom, Power, over and over until Link was dizzy. Link drew his sword but instead it was a book about history and on every page was the face of a gerudo woman in utter terror._

Link threw the covers off him and walked to the door. The light of the hall splashed against his face and his heart slowed down. He turned his head to see if any servants had seen him. No servant walked the floor. Instead, Zelda and Impa stood at his door. His stomach turned.

He met the Sargent at the stable. He did not wear his training armour. He wore a simple green outfit that Impa brought to him. It felt like it fit better than any other clothes tailored for him, and yet he hated it. The Sargent didn't give him orders. Instead, he handed him the reigns to the loyal Clydesdale that Link loved. He looked into her eyes. They were steeled for the night. She needed no blinders. Link did not feel comforted. He leaped into the saddle and patted the side of her neck. His old reflexes waited just below the surface. He could feel his bowstring, the hilt of his sword. War brewed in his blood and in him it turned to frustration, anger.

"Before she could give her statement, one of the physicians saw to her." The Sargent spoke with great unease. "She is with child and we suspect that's why she ran. She knows something about her child."

"Or maybe she just doesn't want to raise another gerudo daughter in the capitol of Hylia." Link snapped. The Sargent looked down. They both wished that was it. Link twisted the reigns in his fist. He looked to the Sargent He remembered that this was his superior officer. "My apologies, sir."

"Save it for when we have her safely in custody."

The towers doubled their guard. Streets were quiet, if not empty. Gerudo hid in basements, but the soldiers made their way through the city's central out of the gates. Intel was better than it had been when this first started. Some of the mounted soldiers flanked the inner and outer paths of the gate. Others closed off quarters of the city. The majority split off into search parties, assigned to regions of Hyrule Field. Sir Link, however, was not given orders. Instead, he was given freedom from rank. "Do what you do best, hero."

He split from the group. In his quiver were five light arrows from Zelda. On his ankle was a charm that she wore when they were children, what assured her that he would be safe while she could not watch over him. It was girly, and it was beaten and worn, and so he wore it with pride. He never studied the arcane arts well, not spells without instant results- but he knew arcane items. It wasn't the items with reverence or meaning made into them. It was the items with history and sentiment that were the most powerful, and with this anklet he knew himself to be well protected from Gannon's ire. Nayru's love was upon him.

Stalchildren rose up out of the soil and swiped at Epona's hooves. She crushed them with her mighty strikes against the earth. An anxious trot broke into a determined canter. His hand rang with light. Her instinct flared. There were no footprints to follow, but they knew which way to go. The two dusted the soldiers who could not ride with their fluidity. The soldiers trusted him, and let Link ride on ahead. With any luck, the job would be done before they arrived.

Link rode up to shards of stone in the field. Dust still hung in the air. Epona slowed enough for him to slide off her saddle and drop to the ground. He looked about. No one was close. In the center of the debris was a hole in the earth. He could jump in, as he had done so many times as a child. Though, he realized, she would be waiting for him. She would be afraid. _I should wait for reinforcements._

He didn't.

He leaped into the soft-soil cavern. Within, fronds grew like weeds and pools of stale rain attracted waterbugs. The cavern was lit with fireflies, trapped in a bottle. The bottle sat in a shallow pool of water, and the light refracted through the water, off the walls and brighter than the bugs could do on their own. Link admired the innovation. In the back of the cavern stood a Sheikah Stone. It's eye ever open, but its words were stone silent. The shadow on the wall reached back and over. Link thought to draw his sword. He looked at his hand first. He decided not to.

He approached the shadow, reached out his hand, and caught the wild swing of the pike. The woman on the butt of the spear stared at him like one would see Gannon. Her eyes narrowed into righteous fury. "You, undead demon who serves the locust, I will not fall to you without a fight."

Link did not have an answer prepared. Instead, honesty came out. "You speak Hylian?"

"Of course I do." She spat. He wiped his face. "I was born in this crumbling city. I was raised in your gutters and under your seething, lecherous glances."

Link let go up the spear and put up his hands. "May I touch you?"

She narrowed her eyes and lowered her spear. "_Excuse me?_"

He turned his left hand so that she could see the soft glow of the triforce. He looked to her womb, which was barely large enough to sustain a gourd, much less a person. "If you do carry the... next bearer, my piece will react. If it doesn't, then we can take you back to the city and get you help."

Her knuckles tightened against the wood of the spear. "And if it does?"

He pursed his lips together. "I... I don't know. Princess Zelda is the one who plans. I just go."

The gerudo woman didn't expect his cander. They stood still, him with his hands empty and open, and she with a spear to his gut. They stood in silent firefly light until Epona fussed up above. She stomped at the ground with one hoof, quietly, anxiously. The gerudo mother eased her grip on the spear. Link lowered his left hand, slowly and not taking his eyes off the spear, until his palm rested over her stomach. There was a flicker, a pulse, and then a steady, brighter glow. As slowly as he put the hand down, he put his hand back up. Silence was better than speech. He took a deep breath.

"They will find you here." He cursed himself. Fear crawled through his veins and yet he could see his path clearly.

"I will not let you murder my son." She pushed the spear into his clothes so that its tip locked into the chainmail underneath. "I will kill you over, and over, and over again until my son is strong enough to pick up the sword and send you to the Goddesses."

He closed his eyes. _I can't do this. Not like this. _He dropped his hands and she stepped backwards. Instead of grabbing his sword like she expected, instead he offered her his hand. "I said they will find you here. I know of only one place in all of Hyrule that they cannot follow. We will go there, and then we will figure this out. I promise I will take you there safely."

A tear, no- two, fell down her face. "What?"

Link thought he would have to teach her how to ride a horse, as she had likely never seen one up close, but apparently it was in her blood. It was her culture, she said, to ride horses under the blazing sun when the sand is a sea of blinding lights. She told him that her mother had told her stories of their homeland every moment alone they had. Link told her that the Sheika had told him stories of Hylian culture once he moved into the castle, but they were never as passionate or vibrant as the stories she told him now by starlight. The whole ride across the field his hand glowed. Sometimes, when he glanced at her, he could have sworn that he saw the glow shine through her from within. They stopped at the edge of the wood. Morning was still hours ahead.

"Do you feel tired?"

"We need to get there." She said.

"Where we are going, until we get there, you cannot sleep." He said sternly. "If you fall asleep here, you will die, and you will never rest."

"Like you."

"Like worse."

She didn't correct his grammar. "I'll be alright."

"Take my hand." She did. He drew his sword and held it up to the wood. The wood remembered him. "Do not let go. If we get separated, stay where you are and stay awake. Let me find you. Epona, go to Zora. Wait there."

The horse reared gently and turned away. The gerudo furrowed her brow. "She knows your speech?"

Link smiled. "She's a special horse."

"I see that."

The wood engulfed them when they stepped inside. They stepped through shadows of the large leaves and mushrooms of towering trees, and emerged from a light that shone like daylight in a cellar. She heard music on instruments that no Hylian or Gerudo could play. She felt the chittering of judgement and predatory salivation. She clutched Link's hand, and soothingly, he gently squeezed it back. "Yeah, sorry. This place is always creepy. Step lively."

He took turns with pivots, sometimes yanking her shoulders. He looked at landmarks she could barely distinguish. His eyes were wild, taking in every branch, every arching bow, every odd stone and the natural shape of the water's banks. She did not let go of his hand. She did not dare. She had heard legends of the wood that devours the living. She had seen a painting of the souls who become like the trees, ever living, never sleeping, trapped and yet right at home. She did not feel that she would ever feel at home in a place where silt squished between her toes like slime.

"Were we here before?"

"Yes." He said.

"Are we lost?"

"No."

"You expect me to believe we have to go through the wood in the same places, in order to get to a different place deeper within?"

"Yes."

"That is delusional."

"Yes. That's why people get lost."

That, at least, made sense.

Her strength waned. She realized this was partially because her anger and fear were weakening. She wasn't sure if it was the enchantment of the wood, or finally having someone to aid her that made her will waver. She feared the former more, and so steeled herself against sleep. She ignored her sore feet against the twigs and hard grasses. She ignored the soreness in her legs. She did her best to ignore the sickness she felt from carrying a child. That was much harder.

"Just a little bit further." He reassured. It helped.

Seven turns, wild pivoting and double checking of indescribable landmarks led them deeper into a shadow. She closed her eyes. On the other side was a soft light, and they walked out of the Lost Woods into a narrow meadow. In the meadow sat a temple in severe decay. Vines overtook it, structures ground against structure, wailing for collapse. In all of its demise, it still provided many nooks and crannies where for now the stone was stable.

"What... temple is this?"

"This is the ancient Temple of Time." Link spoke softly. Reverence commanded his voice. "Long ago, the Hylian people came out into the woods because they believed Time to be naturally a part of nature and its power. When the people eventually understood Time as a modern method of measurement, they rebuilt the temple in the Capitol. Now a small shrine sits in every city."

"I see." she found herself yawning. "Is it still dangerous to sleep?"

"No, thankfully." Link looked about the place, as if looking for tools, or a hidden stash of chocolates. "This place is sacred. The Lost Woods has no power here. Sit, wherever you can. I will haste to make camp."

She found a large marble slab as a makeshift couch and sat on it. She rest her hand over her womb. Lost, afraid, and quite possibly facing a death sentence in the solitude of the devouring wood, she wept. The weeping did not finish with her until Link already had a fire going and was penning a letter. She laid down in the thick, overgrown grass on the opposite side of his fire. He did not look up. He wrote furiously, but also with a sense that it was futile. She watched for a little while, and then drifted off to sleep.

The forest fairy hovered in Zelda's window. She bolted across her room from her desk, where she was holding a letter she did not know how to send. She cracked open her window and the fairy drifted in on the morning breeze. It carried a small piece of fabric with Link's hasty scrawl. She put out her hand for the fairy to rest in. She fanned her face to calm her soul. It didn't help.

_Zelda,_

_There are faries that sometimes gather in the evening in the courtyard. I suggest catching some to keep correspondence. Please take notes for me. While I'm gone, try sparring with Keylia. She has a strong sense of making most of openings and she will be a good combat strategy to learn how to defend against._

_Trust your instincts. If you are unsure, ask Impa. Second guessing your own wisdom has been your greatest downfall. For now, I must trust in mine. I have courage, but hopefully your common sense has rubbed off on me. I am in no mortal peril. We are stronger now than we were before, smarter and more importantly I can actually hold the sword properly._

_Please let the fairy rest if you send a letter. It is a long way._

_Link_

Zelda read it three times before letting her hand drop. Impa plucked the letter from her loose grasp and read it for herself. Zelda crossed back to her desk, took the pins out of the cushion and laid the fairy down onto it. The small forest fairy was already asleep.

"He's right." Impa spoke softly. Zelda didn't respond. "I will inform the masters about Keylia."

Zelda found herself cross. She snatched up the letter she wrote, tore it to shreds and flung them into the wastebasket. She pulled at her hair. "Why did he _do this_?"

"Exclude you?" Impa cut to the point. "Because he knows that I would betray both your wishes and his should I feel it necessary for the safety of the kingdom."

"Which means he is doing something _foolish_." Zelda spat.

"Or risky." Impa found herself smiling, just a tad. "You both had nightmares the night the woman escaped. Now he is missing, presumably hiding the woman from us. He knows that I would think it too much of a risk to do what he is doing. He has grown since he was a boy. He's become quite clever."

"He's always been clever." Her tone fell into a lost, sullen wind. "That's how he won."

"Exactly. He defied expectations."

Zelda finally looked away from the surface of her desk. She squinted at her own thoughts and turned to Impa. In preparation of a revelation, she sat herself into her chair. She thought a moment. "What are you implying?"

"Well, Princess, what is he expected to do?"

". . . Destroy Gannon. Again." Zelda's words betrayed herself. The thought of him having to fight in blood and sweat made her uneasy. She still remembered holding him up, keeping him from collapsing after the victory. "That's what he does. That is his part in the cycle."

Yet, instead he was hiding. The woman suspected to be the next bearer's mother was hiding, with him. Zelda had thought that Link was in peril, and so had written a letter saying that he would be rescued- not abandoned. She was glad she tore up the letter. No pregnant woman would be able to hold Link, not with his experience. She could not stop him, not while he was with the power of the Triforce of Courage. Link was protecting her. Link was hiding her. Link was protecting the baby. Zelda's face twisted in confusion.

"When Link fought Gannondorf those eleven-"

"Twelve." Zelda corrected.

"-twelve, years ago, Gannondorf was a grown man. He was hurting many people. He was sending armies against our gates and threatening your life. Link's choice was clear. Yet now, the holder of the Triforce of Power is not yet born."

"He could end this before it starts!" Zelda exclaimed.

"Yes he can." Impa put some stern in her voice. Zelda looked up, her lost and frustrated expression painted all over her posture. "And he is a clever man who knows Death better than anyone. Zelda, do you know where he would hide them?"

She paused. She didn't need to think about it. "Yes."

Impa crossed the room to her chair and rest a hand on Zelda's shoulder. Zelda stared at the mark on her hand. The triforce reflected the light coming through her window. Impa knelt down beside the distraught princess and took the marked hand in her own. "Do you think we should pursue them?"

The triforce glimmered as thoughts raced through Zelda's mind. A single thought stood out. It wasn't what she wanted. It was not what history foretold, and it was not going to be approved by anyone. Zelda closed her hand around Impa's.

"No. We're going to trust him."

"Then in Nayru's Wisdom through you, I will not pursue him."

Squirrels cooked on the fire. The woman watched them half-heartedly. She could mostly keep an eye on them with her nose. She would smell when they were done- now that the scent of burnt fur had faded. Instead, her eyes were on the Hero. Donned with gloves from deep within a temple, he was moving the crumpled structures of the eroded temple of time into a fair structure. Though it was quite apparent that he had never studied architecture, he wasn't doing too poorly. He crushed the dust from the edges to make smoother sides on the slabs. He traced rough rectangles with his sword, then punched out the stone to make windows. She did not bother calling out to him when the squirrels finished cooking. It appeared he was too lost in his project to hear it.

She noted that he was only using slabs that had fallen outside the temple. He outright refused to cross the threshold, even though the walls had somewhat collapsed around the doorframe. He made sure he was not considered inside the temple. When he finally joined her at the fire, she took his hand in hers and massaged it.

"Does the temple still have power?" She spoke softly, as if the temple could wake up.

"As it ages, it looses physical strength." He bit through a small bone of the squirrel. It took some time for him to pluck it from the meat without spearing the roof of his mouth. "But it also gains spiritual strength with every passing Solstace. The monsters within are likely still guarding its spirit."

She furrowed her brow. "Is it safe to be here?"

"It's... safer." He didn't want to lie. "The monsters will not come out of the temple, so long as we don't go in and mess with it. Monsters almost never leave their temples. They are there to test, to guard, to protect and to judge. They look after the temple and the temple looks after them."

"And what if they do?"

"Then I will slay them." Link said plainly. If training for the Watch, and the Royal Guard has been any education, it was to maintain composure. So long as he was calm, assured and unafraid, she would be. At least, that was the principle. Her shoulders were still stiff but at least she was eating. "So... I guess the obvious rules are not to go into the Lost Woods, and not to go into the Temple of Time."

"So I am a prisoner here." She sighed. She looked about the glade. Sun shone through the trees. Before Link had started moving temple walls, the birds were singing in serenity. He was building them a house of sorts. He could get for them whatever they needed from the wood, and protect them. "It could be a worse prison, in fairness. At least here it appears that peace is attainable."

Link smiled with assurance. It was a bit forced but the Gerudo woman appreciated the gesture. He managed to laugh. He plucked strands of meat from between the small bones. "Reminds me of the time when I got arrested. I was in a holding cell for a week."

The gerudo leaned back with surprise. "What on earth did you do to get _you of all people_ arrested?!"

"Well, as a kid I would kinda just. Scavenge?" He kept his eye on his squirrel bones but his vision was elsewhere. "And... sometimes I would scavenge people's homes? So after I moved into the palace, some of the people remembered that and... well let's just say I got off super easy. But being a kid stuck for a _week_ in a dungeon when I could barely sit still in a classroom? Oh yeah. I learned not to steal so often."

"So often."

"I mean, so long as I give it back it's borrowing not stealing."

A pleasant, easy silence fell between the gaps of the pops of the fire. She rest her hand on her womb. Joy, fear, uncertainty, relief to not be in the capitol- they all buzzed about her fighting for attention. She watched him gather up the bare bones of the squirrels and toss them into the fire. They fizzled and flickered, and the flames- instead of liking the bones rolled over them. They balled up and floated on the heat. The fire on the bones carved through it until there was caught of the bones but ash, and then a few small tiny orbs of light blinked out of existence. The Gerudo woman stared intently.

"Was... that?"

"Yep." Link nodded. "All faries are born from things returning to the Earth. It's not so much the soul of the animal, but... it's easier to think of them that way. Plants do it too. That's why there are so many faries in the Lost Woods."

Such a wonderful moment ended on such a sullen note. "My name is Loamol."

Link nodded and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Link."

She chuckled, and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, too."

More silence filled the gaps.

"So. Hero of Hyrule, He Who Marches with Death Close Behind, Sir Link." She said. He looked to the grass. "What is it that you plan to do with me and my son?"

He looked at her. He looked at her womb- but just a glance. "I, uh. I guess. Just... hide you here until I have a better plan."

"So you intend to trap yourself here, with one who is sworn to be your mortal enemy, one who will one day remember you as the death of his people?"

Link thought for a moment. He thought about what it would mean to have a child who could truly kill him, around all the time. He thought about what it could mean for Gannondorf to have such easy access to such a great power protected within the temple. His stomach knotted and he found himself curling into a ball.

"He's just a kid." Link muttered. "My job isn't just... _kill Gannondorf._ It's to protect Hyrule. I did what I had to do to protect my people."

"And your princess."

"Yes, and my princess." Link looked into Loamol's eyes. The irises reflected the dance of the flames, of the fairies, and yet stood perfectly still. "So until he threatens Hyrule, he is not my enemy and I am not his."

The gerudo leaned back. Her back was sore and the ground supported it. "So you truly mean it. Sir Link, knighted as a child by the Hylian Court, do you swear to protect my son so long as he does not harm your people? Do you swear to help me raise this child to be a King, not as a predator of Hyrule, but as a neighboring Kingdom from which borders are respected and merchants aspire to cross?"

Link stood up. He faced her. He drew his sword and she tensed with every muscle of her body. He held it in his hands and he made a choice. He knelt before her and offered up his blade as a sign of formality- as he had been taught. "I solemnly swear to raise this child to be a Benevolent, Neighboring King."

Loamol rested her hand on his face. His composure trembled. "Then truly history can change. For the first time, Gannondorf, King of the Gerudo, will have someone he can call a father."

Link suddenly realized that he knew nothing about raising children.


	2. Chapter 2

Link

I am prepared to be cross with you, but for the sake of the realm I will tame my temper. Impa has taken a liking to your advice and already I have seen the physician three times this week from sparring. Here are your notes from Seventh Era History, as well as Arithmetic. I'd send you the literature notes, but the fairies were having a hard time carrying the book.

I thought you would be reassured to know that Epona has been recovered. We found her happily munching on the reeds by the Zora River. She likes how they whistle when she huffs through them, and now she refuses to stop, or let us take the reeds. Still somehow your horse is a better flute-player than I ever was as a child and frankly I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Impa worries. She has been going out at dusk to 'get some fresh air' as it were. I would be thrice the liar if I said I did not worry, too. Perhaps it is silly to bid you caution, but be careful all the same. Come home when you can.

Zelda

The woman leaned against the log with a grimace. Link did not know how to soothe her. He had half a mind to ask in his next letter. He rubbed his eyes. Impa was looking for them at Dusk? If anyone in the realm could find them, could even reach them, it was likely Impa. Link tucked his class notes into a fraying cut of bark.

"Will you be alright for a few moments?"

"Going into the wood?" She whispered.

Link nodded, strung his bow and stood up. Loamol answered his question in kind. Her nods were brief, but energetic. He made a mental list of the herbs in the wood that could soothe pain. He wasn't sure which ones were okay for a woman with child to take, and which could possibly poison them both. He decided to return with a handful of things. That was the best way to go. Let her sort them out with her own knowledge.

"Handful of herbs, bagful of toadstools." He chanted under his breath. She didn't interrupt him. "I'll be back in the hour."

Left at the bow that looks like a bird. Left at the stone of the scratches. Right at the woodpecker that never wakes. Straight at the shoe of a child who fell asleep. Touch nothing that need not be touched. March on. Only hunt when you know where you are. Respect the fairies that fly. Respect the bones that birth them. Link kept moving. Right at the skipping stones that do not sink. Take a deep breath and...

He stepped out from the Lost Woods into the arching trees of Hyrule Field. Roots gave way to rich grass, and the twisting trunks straightened into something more appropriate for a painter's eye. Link glanced about the opening of his fortress and was not disappointed.

Epona stood just within the path's entrance. In her mouth were the reeds of the Zora River, and on her back were packs and packs of things the fairies could not hope to carry. Link threw his arms around his horse and sung her praises. Such a strong horse, such a noble steed, such a valiant and beautiful mare beyond compare. Epona knew every word and she nestled him close.

"She said you would be hiding here."

Link's nerves crunched and wrinkled all the way up from the backs of his knees to the nape of his neck. Epona consoled him. Link forced his composure and turned to face her.

"It is good to see you, Impa. Truly."

"Hm." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Well if you have learned nothing else at the palace, at least we got some manners into you."

Link afforded a smirk. "I also learned to throw a man over my shoulder. That was pretty great."

Impa raised an eyebrow, and then gave in. She held open her arms and Link strode into them. Their embrace was short, but lung-crushing. She put a hand on his shoulder. She took a good look at him.

"There is no shame in your posture." Impa nearly purred with pride. "Good. At least I know that your madness is not derived of fear."

Link's eyes fell. "I'm not mad."

She raised an eyebrow.

"What I mean is..." Link took a deep breath, looked Impa in the eye, and recited his tutor. "The future bearers of the triforce can be granted a much easier, stronger life for the work we do today. He is the next bearer. I can either make the situation worse by doing what I'm told, or I can try to make at least one era of our history a little less bloody by..."

"Raising a child."

"Yeah."

"You may be of age, Link, but you are far from a parent."

He pursed his lips. "Yeah. I know. Still have to try. The kid deserves that much."

"Hm." She smiled. "At least you are off to a good start."

She lifted a pack off of Epona and helped strap it onto Link. One pack at a time they untied from the horse and crammed it onto Link. They tied packs to packs, until he looked like a merchant strolling as bait. He felt as a merchant who was strolling as bait. Overburdened and wishing he had brought his gloves, Link huffed and readjusted under the weight. As she loaded each pack on, she briefly explained what was in it. There were proper medications, there were cloths and sheets, pillows and foods. They had swept his room for much of his old equipment. There was the literary book he was meant to read. There was also a book on delivering an infant.

"Can you still get through the Wood this way?"

Link nodded. Impa rested his face in her hand. She pulled his cap forward and adjusted the hair out of his face. Assured Link would be alright, she mounted Epona and she rode off toward the Zora Domain. Link took a breath, huffed up, and marched back into the Lost Wood. Now, left at the skipping stones that do not sink...

Zelda stood at the front of her father's council room. Impa stood behind her at a respectful, aloof distance. The council was furious, Zelda resolute, and her parents were emotionally exhausted. The Princess stood with her straightest shoulders and most upright posture, all supporting a tight-lipped and defiant glare. One of the council members stood.

"If Link has truly absconded with the mother of evil, then he has defected, and it is clear that he has betrayed us." The councilman lashed his tongue around the words. "He commits treason."

"Zelda," her mother pleaded. "If we cannot find him we cannot bring him home. All of this can be settled in court, and have this be decided by law."

There was a soft, obligatory hear hear about the room. Zelda breathed in softly. She counted to ten in her thoughts. Impa crossed her arms. The Princess lifted her chin and began her speech.

"When I was but a young child, you all insisted that I fufill my part in the prophecy." Zelda announced. No one was amused by her play at authority. "You lead me by legend, lore and expectation alone to act, based on the mark of my hand. Worse still, you expected Link, a boy younger than I, to perform single and mortal combat with a grown man by which you yourselves fear for the cause of the same legend and same mark! My own discomfort aside, when it was finished he could barely stand. It took him weeks to recover from the injuries he suffered. Now, you demand us do it again?"

"We don't exepct you to fully appreciate your role in history," the standing councilman spoke with ice on this teeth and snide flickers of his tongue. "but the trouble we face now is a direct result of Link not completing his task the first time. Had he sealed Gannon away in the Master Sword and carried it to the Temple of Time, which is just outside the palace in the Central Square, we would not be facing this crisis twelve years later. How can we allow you to handle this in such a delicate age of peace when you could not do it with all of our support then?"

"Link was dying." Zelda snapped.

"Zelda." Her father corrected her tone. "I understand that when you were young you were frightened for him, but the Triforce of Power had faded. It is possible that Link would have awoken again just as he always does. Between Link's lack of strength and your lack of reason, we are now faced with an equal threat in our near future. We need to know where Link is hiding the woman. We cannot afford failure this time."

Zelda stood silent. When she was younger this would move her to tears. She hated this. She was not a person with a gift in this room. She was a doll, pulled by the strings of stories that had no evidence. Her alleged memories of her past incarnations were always fuzzy, incomplete, like the memories of a story imagined when told many times. She prayed to the goddesses that Link was doing the right thing.

"No." She announced. Her defiance echoed off the walls. "As the Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, I uphold my duty of protecting and providing for the Bearer of the Triforce of Courage. My wisdom serves to guide his actions to the peace for our realm. I will not have my duty interpreted for me any longer."

The council broke into uproar. In her parents, she saw worry. To her surprise, she also saw in them pride, and hope. It would be half an hour's time before the council was quiet again, but by then Zelda had been sent away. Impa walked closely with her.

"You may have new enemies today." Impa said this softly.

Zelda afforded a cruel chuckle. "I wonder if they'll imprison me in crystal."

Relief and joy poured out of Link. Zelda had thought of most everything. She had sent his hookshot, the box of trinkets he made from 'borrowed' silverware, and- "Ohhh, Zelda."

Loamol leaned over the pack in his hands. "Is something wrong?"

Link shook his head with a beaming grin. He held up in his hands his pajamas. They were silk, a dark silver with rich green threading. On the chest was the royal crest of the Hylian Royal House, and 'Sir Link, Knight of the Realm' written underneath. "She trusts us."

The woman knitted her brow together in confusion. "That is a logical leap that requires context."

Link shuffled out of his armoured tunic, right where he sat in the dirt, and slipped into his pajama top. He buttoned up the front, leaving the top two undone. "She wants me to be comfortable. She wouldn't do that if she wasn't going to protect us."

They pawed through the care packages that Zelda had sent by horseback. They found gardening tools, which Link hadn't even thought to ask for. They found a few casual outfits for Loamol, and even a dress that was simple yet elegant. They were both relieved to find herbs and medicines for soothing Loamol's pregnancy, and cloth for bedding, cleaning, washing. There were seeds from the garden and a quaint iron cookset.

"Your beloved has sent us house-warming gifts." Loamol chuckled. She watched as the young man excitedly unpacked the bags out onto the grass. "She must be eager to see you return home."

Link looked up. He wasn't sure how to take in the statement. The latter was definitely fact, though. He glanced at the notes she sent him. There were more doodles in the margins than her standard fare. They crammed into the body of the page, and some even drifted off the edge. Zelda was worried for them both. Helpful things, pleasant things, were now scattered in every direction.

"Planting a garden is a good idea." Loamol encouraged. She eased herself onto her feet and crossed to where the gardening tools lay. "Sadly I grew up in the city. I know nothing about gardening. I'm hoping you have a better idea?"

Link beamed. "Zelda loved getting her dresses dirty, and the only way that we'd be allowed to roll around in the dirt was to learn gardening. It worked out rather well, actually. I was thinking of taking samplings from the Lost Wood, but a lot of these are easier to start a garden with."

The woman stared at the temple. Link followed her gaze, but didn't see her train of thought there. She caught a glance at the blank expression on his face. She gestured politely to the temple and its power within. "Will our garden grow here? Or, more directly- will the Temple influence us?"

Link scooped up the hand-hoe and stood to his feet. "The grass grows. The trees grow. Our food will grow."

They drew up the space for the garden, tracing its borders with the tools. Loamol followed his lead, helping him map out spacing for each seedling. They overturned the grass for the soil and broke up the roots. They didn't get far in gardening before Loamol needed to rest. Link took in their camp. They had a fire, and they had a garden, but sleeping in the tall grass was not ideal. Dew soaked their clothes in the morning and the stones in the soil provided little comfort. They needed a proper place to rest, and he knew she craved some privacy. He marched back to the mound of gifts from Zelda. It took some finding, especially since they were worn with use, but gloves that he could barely manage as a child fit him…somewhat better as an adult. They were still big on him, the edges of the glove's fingers sagging and flopping around his own.

Link walked to a marble slab near the fire, crouched down, dug his fingers into the dirt under the stone and lifted. The gloves took a second to remember their wearer- and then shrunk around his hands. The mark of the Triforce on his hand glowed underneath the glove and with its authority, the gloves submitted to Link's will. Link took a deep breath. Lifting with his legs, he picked up the marble slab and stood it on its end a few feet from the fireplace. It stood taller than he once he had it settled, and twice a long as Epona. Link nodded to himself. He could do something with this. He stacked for her a small house of marble, while giving Loamol directions on how to build the garden.

Within the one-room shelter he made for her a hammok from the fabrics, which hung from thick boughs of the trees on all four corners so that it did not slip or rock and she settled into it. When she could no longer garden, they ate, rested, and he helped her into her new space. She cradled his face in her hand. She quickly dropped off to sleep. As evening fell, he returned outside to stoke a small fire. He quietly planned himself a shelter with the marble rubble that was left over.

Impa escorted her through the marketplace, much as one escorts a dog through a park that the dog knows better than the walker. Zelda fussed with her hood. It was messing with her hair so that it frizzed into her face, tickled her nose and sometimes wound up in her mouth. She loved how hoods looked, hated how her hair hated them. She meandered to a stall for rocksalts. As noon neared, their stock was running low. Most of their salts were either hardened large bits or pale crumbles. Zelda chose a larger chunk, nudged Impa to pay for it, and found something else to fixate on. Impa watched as Zelda watched the cobbles and pricked her ears.

They've been interrogating Gerudo since the chase. The women are all playing dumb. I don't know why they don't confess.

Do you think he killed her? I mean, it would do the job.

They're probably hiding under our noses right here in the city!

They said the princess has fallen ill, but I don't believe it.

If he had done what he was supposed to do to begin with, we wouldn't be here. This was their plan all along.

I knew we shouldn't trust people with power.

A young hylian, just older than herself Zelda figured, borrowed a crate from a vendor. He carefully poised himself on the edges of the box so it would not collapse. He looked a little… compromised, probably just enough drinks to be bold. Most folks ignored him, as one does in a busy marketplace. It took him a moment to speak. Impa pulled Zelda back from the current toward the wall. They waited for him to start his speech. When he felt he had enough irritated glances collected he started.

"You know what?" he shouted. No one answered him, so he continued. "We're probably right. I think the princess and the hero messed up. They… didn't do their jobs. They have one job, to protect us from Gannon, and they didn't get it right the first time and they ain't doing it now."

He now had plenty of attention. Children were being dragged away. Some folks found something to lean on. This should be good. There were murmurs, private conversations and some hear hear's in the crowd. Merchants took advantage of the cluster to sell to whomever blocked their stall. Zelda frowned. Impa pulled the princess' hood further down her face. She had few supporters here.

"But yanno what?" This time he got some responses. Some 'whats', some 'you tell mes'. "I betchu this ain't the first time they screwed up. I betchu, in all their little incarnations and junk, that they almost never get it right. I mean, they're still just Hylians. And yanno what I see? A thriving, busy marketplace in the capital of Hyrule. Regardless of all their mistakes and blunders and neglect, we the people still come out on top!"

"This is surprisingly uplifting." Impa murmured. She didn't expect a response from Zelda, which was good, because she didn't get one.

"Listen, I dunno what's gonna happen? Really don't, but right now my pops and I have Big Radishes on sale, and that guy over there has some good arrows on sale? Raise your hand! Yeah! That guy! And that's it. That's Hyrule. There's a Zora up the square who is selling fish from Hylia Lake, in like, these giant icecubes and they're really cool. That guy over there selling rock salt has a Goron brother-in-law somehow and has some good prices. Nevermind. He'll have good prices tomorrow when he restocks. Point is, whatever! Who cares if we didn't get the best luck in Triforce Wielders this time around. This is still the best time to be a Hylian!"

Zelda didn't say anything on the way back to the castle. She was too busy thinking about how even though her people were in objective peace, that she still failed them. She thought about the hours she stayed awake that night, making sure Link didn't fall asleep, just in case he didn't wake up. Ever. She thought about how she should have carried him to the temple to seal Gannon that night, instead of caring for his life. Part of her also thought about all the times people assumed that she and Link would marry and rule the kingdom together as adults, and how impossible that seemed now that he was hiding in the Lost Woods.

"Be calm." Impa's touch was gentle. They were almost inside the castle. This was no place for tears. "We have a few moments before you are expected. Do you need to practice your archery before you go in?"

Zelda nodded. "That seems appropriate."

Zelda thought about a lot of things while she pulled the bow tight, while she loosed the arrow. The thoughts flowed from her arm to the point to the target. She fired her arrows until there were no more thoughts to empty. Then, without shedding a single tear of frustration, she reclaimed her peaceful facade. She put away her bow, and with it all of her aggression. She needed a plan. She needed to talk to Link. She supported him, she knew that. What she needed to know was Link's plan, and she feared he didn't have one.

Two small shelters of tattered building huddled around a large fire pit, filled with charcoal and bordered with smooth stones. Yards from where the pit sat, a small brook babbled in gentle turns. Further up, a small pool swirling with tiny blooms of algae swirled in a pond. Fish nibbled at the plants. Tall walls of marble held up no roof, but instead winding, thriving vines with flowers not ready to bloom. Further up and further in, sunlight filtered through the trees to show faded and worn steps. They led into the rubble of the temple, the walls crumbling and the archways collapsed. Still, despite the outer temple, a grand door of iron hummed. It hummed in the way that light might hum, or a songbird who had forgotten the range of hearing a hylian might have. The shelters and the firepit sat a long ways from the iron gate, for Link and Loamol feared it in a way that many feared the goddesses. Link could learn the ways of the Lost Wood. He had. The Temple of Time, however, he avoided, because he remembered that time was not the creature it was outside the temple. Loamol asked, and Link only explained that He Had Learned Much, and said nothing else aside.

Link returned from the Lost Woods, returning from a hunt, to find Loamol not by the pit. Two thoughts crossed his mind. The first was that Loamol might have ventured into the wood to retrieve a few ingredients that she could grow in the garden, which worried him because he had not taught her how to navigate the wood. The second was that Loamol may have gone to the Temple of Time with a barrage of her own questions. This worried him a great deal more. He left the hunt by the fire pit, vulnerable to faries and flies. His eyes poured over the small landscape. He did not see her. His heart raced, and frankly he hated that.

"Loamol!" His voice scratched against him. This was a place of quiet, of serenity, and shouting was not considered reverent by the Temple. He dropped an octave and spoke deeply into the clearing. "Loa! Loa where are you?"

"Link!" Her voice, strained by the Temple, was also strained by the body. His head snapped toward the pool, and found her sitting in the water. Some of the larger fish which they had been keeping now flopped helplessly in the grass. Her face was bent over in agony. Link finally took in the water. Red foam coursed over the brook. The pool where she sat curdled a deep red, which gave him flashbacks of the Water Temple. He froze. He didn't know what he expected to do in this moment, he avoided thinking about it, but apparently his body chose to freeze.

"Link, get me clean fabric. I will need to clean myself and the knife."

The knife?

Then he saw what she meant. She reached into the water, pulled out a soaked, bloody infant, and with a gentle hand cut the fleshy cable from the child's stomach. She tied the knob that stuck out from the baby's belly, set the knife in the grass, and cleaned him as best she could with water tumbling into the pond over the rocks. Link nodded to himself, remembered what fabric was, and went off to fetch it. By the time he returned, much of the blood had run out from the pool and down the brook into the rest of the woods. Some the grass on the edges were faintly stained. He marched to her and helped her up out of the pool. Her clothes were soaked and filthy, but she was determined to wrap up her newborn first. She handed off the swaddling to Link. He held the baby carefully and awkwardly. She did not worry about changing in front of him, as she could see the glazed expression in his eyes. She wrapped herself in the fabric and dried herself. Then she took back her son. The infant's hand glowed gently while he cried.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "Link?"

"Me?" Link stammered quite a bit. "Me? Are you alright?! Why didn't you tell me you were due? I could have gotten a doctor, or at least someone from the woods to help-"

"We are the daughters, and son, of the oasis. In the water is our way, but we found it is not everyone else's." Loamol spoke softly. "We cannot fathom how your women manage birth the way your cultures do. Although, I do realize it's silly to say that the Zora would not understand. Yet, I do not expect you would find a practiced Zora in the wood."

"No." Link nodded faintly. "But are you alright? You must be in pain. You need to rest. I'll help-"

"Peace." She almost laughed. "This is not my first birth. Gannondorf has three sisters."

"Oh." Link hadn't thought about that. Now he worried if her three daughters were well, and also realized that this glade might not support a family of six. He also remembered that Gerudo in the city grew up faster because they had to, and that her daughters were best protected if not related to the missing woman. His stomach turned.

"Are you alright, Link?" she insisted. "It's okay if you're not."

Link paused. He stared at the baby. "I'm… new to the whole birth thing. I've seen death plenty of times. That end of nature I know well."

"But birth is alien." She smiled.

"Yeah."

"Well, congratulations." She gave him a reassuring chuckle to break the tension that pained his shoulders. "You have now experienced both ends."

Link froze the fish with his arrows. He started a fire, and she took a much needed nap. She awoke to the smell of well cooked game, a small boar. Link had bottled more milk for her from the cow in the wood, and she was grateful. They ate in silence. The only disturbance to the quiet was the baby, who's voice was quieted by the Temple. They had much to discuss, and none of the collected thoughts to do so. She nursed him, while she herself ate, and out of respect Link kept his eyes on the fire. Link didn't want to look at the boy's hand. After some time trapped alone with his thoughts, he found some torn fabric. He wrapped it about his left hand as he used to do when he wielded the sword. It hid his mark, and protected him from blisters.

Though they both went to bed early, neither of them got any sleep.


End file.
